Texas Instruments Calculator Based Lab

[Monkeyman87]

I just bought a TI-84 and it has the CBL data logging program. Does anyone know how the CBL peripherals communicate with the calc? ie. what is the protocol. The reason I ask is I would like to build a CBL device instead of buying one. It would work with my accelerometer project. I just cannot find any info about CBL.

The TI's proccessor is a Zilog Z80, and since the port used for CBL has only at most 4 connections(not quite sure cause I don't have a cbl cable yet) I'm guessing it uses some sort of serial interface.

 

[williB]

does the TI82 have the same feature..?

 

[williB]

http://www.ticalc.org/hardware/cables/

**broken link removed**
it looks like it uses a 2.5mm stereo plug ..

 

[evandude]

all the TI calcs i've seen use 3-conductor 2.5mm stereo plugs.

you might be interested in this page:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/5081/SPinTerface.html

involves modifying your calculator, but you could probably achieve the same thing with external connections considering all it is is connections to power, ground, and the link port, basically.

there are a bunch of sites out there for using the calculator for things it was never meant for. like controlling robots and such... just google it and you'll probably find a bunch of stuff. you might not be able to find enough info to make your own CBL but you might be able to write your OWN interface that is even better suited to your application.